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filibuster Definition

fili·bus·ter (fil′i bus′tər)

noun

  1. an adventurer who engages in unauthorized warfare against a country with which his own country is at peace; specif., any of the 19th-cent. U.S. adventurers who led armed expeditions into Latin American countries; freebooter
  2. ☆
    1. the making of long speeches, introduction of irrelevant issues, etc. in order to obstruct the passage of a bill in the Senate
    2. a member of the Senate who uses such methods

Etymology: Sp filibustero < Fr flibustier, earlier fribustier < MDu vrijbuiter, freebooter

intransitive verb

  1. to engage in unauthorized warfare as a freebooter
  2. ☆ to engage in a filibuster

transitive verb

☆ to obstruct the passage of (a bill) by a filibuster

filibuster Synonyms

filibuster

n.

delaying tactic, hindrance, postponement, interference, opposition, procrastination, delay, obstruction to congressional action, obstructionism, stonewalling, holding the floor, peroration, long-windedness.

filibuster Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

Democratic: Bush also faces the prospect of a Democratic filibuster in the Senate to block his latest nomination to the Supreme Court, Samuel Alito.